Every ten years, legislative districts must be redrawn. This is done as a result of demographic changes, to insure that our elected officials represent the same number of people, on a more or less equal basis. If there were no population changes or shifts in New York State as a whole, there would be no need for such changes.
Unfortunately, that is not the case.
While New York State’s population has grown slightly, it has not kept pace with other parts of the country. New York will probably lose two Federal congressional seats as a result.
Worse, western New York State’s population has declined. Rochester has dropped 12,000 people in the last ten years, while Monroe County’s population has remained pretty much stagnant.
The population drop is even more extreme further west in New York State, in Buffalo and Erie County.
Hence the need for redistricting. At present, the concern is over the new state senate districts. Who will be doing it, and how and why is sparking the latest controversy.
The usual situation is whichever political party in power gets to redraw the district lines; the party not in power then cries “Foul,” and demands that some other process or organization be used to handle the redistricting. Something non-partisan. The party IN power does not need to pay attention to such whining, and so the debate over redistricting continues.
Of course the districts will be drawn to suit whichever party is dominant at the time, which has resulted in spectacular gerrymandering. Which the party not currently in power practices when they ARE in power.
At present, the Republicans are dominant in the New York State Senate and the Democrats are in the minority there, and the complaints about redistricting are drawn purely along those lines.
Personally, I favor a non-partisan approach to redistricting. Unfortunately, in a state as politically polarized as New York, where are you going to find such a creature?
There isn’t any!
Last year, when Monroe County’s legislative districts were being redrawn, the Democrats ( in the minority there ) demanded that non-partisan groups do the redistricting. They were promptly ignored by the Republican majority, although the Republicans DID have to negotiate with the Democrats over the changes. Rochester city council also redrew its district seats’ boundaries; however, as the Democrats have a monopolistic stranglehold on city government, they didn’t even make the pretense of asking for non-partisan help in redrawing those districts!
“And so the sickened rooster crew thrice!”
It’s always different when your own party is in power.
Just as it is when redrawing the lines for the state senate districts.
I would favor that the districts be drawn with contiguous blocs of population, not the fantastical gerrymanders that have been proposed. Rochester’s southwest area will be effectively lumped together with Buffalo’s suburbs, which seems rather stupid and not in Rochester’s best interests for representation purposes in Albany, where state aid for basics is becoming extremely hard to come by. ( Elaborate, costly and unnecessary projects, well, THOSE the state always manages to come up with the bucks for! )
Senator Robach will be giving up most of his city districts in this plan; Senator Alesi will be getting more of Rochester.
Of course, nobody actually living in Rochester will be representing Rochester in the state senate!
But it’s been that way for years!
State Assemblyman David Gantt, Democratic sacred cow and famous for “double dipping” where his pensions are concerned, is threatening to sue over the proposed redistricting. He’s always threatening to sue over something or another. ( If he ever retires from office, he could make a career as a recurring guest star as a plaintiff on any number of daytime “reality” court shows. ) Gantt’s argument is that this redistricting has been done to preserve the power bases of incumbent Republican state senators. Maybe so, but it will also do the same for incumbent Democrats. He doesn’t feel the need to mention that.
Rochester City Councilman Adam McFadden feels that such redistricting will reduce “minority strength” in Albany. Perhaps doing the gerrymandering to preserve and enhance “minority strength” along the lines of “separate but equal” when doing the resdistricting is what McFadden wants, since minorities presumably vote Democratic, HIS party. Preserving racial and ethnic differences ( as a source of political power ) is the apparent goal here.
And Democratic Governor “Status” Cuomo? He is threatening to veto any redistricting plan that isn’t “fair,” although the Governor isn’t exactly saying who will decide if it’s fair or not. Perhaps it will be only him. And the Governor’s position will be based on what’s good for him, and his presumable run for the president’s office in 2016.
Obviously, despite all of the rhetoric that’s being dished out, sliced up and served like so much budget store balogna, the last thing anyone in power is being concerned with is the people in their care. Oh sure, they talk about “equal representation.” But both parties want to preserve and enhance their politcal strength to the detriment of the other. The Democrats call for non-partisan redistricting only because they are counting on that body to be liberally inclined. But neither political party wants truly unbiased non-partisan participation because it couldn’t be controlled by either of them. Equality and common sense are not considered. It is too dangerous for both of them.
So now we simply wait for them to pull rabbits out of their hats.
Well, Easter IS coming!

Every ten years, after the national census, legislative districts must be redrawn. This is to insure that the sizes of each district, based on population, are pretty much the same.

That seems straightforward enough.

It’s who gets to redraw these districts that’s causing all the ruckus these days.

Simply put, whichever political party is in control of those legislative bodies gets to draw the lines. Which bugs the party NOT in control more than somewhat.

It has also produced some fantastic gerrymanders to help guarantee that whichever party is in control stays in control. Some of these districts look like something that had been drawn up in a nightmare after playing “Dungeons And Dragons.”

Personally, I am in favor of a non-partisan group of citizens drawing up the boundaries of the legislative districts in Monroe County. Something that might produce more concise and sensible blocks of population than what has been done previously.

My only question is: how “non-partisan” would this group of citizens be? In most cases, given the various groups that the Democrats have mentioned, not very. They have cited groups that are already in their pocket. So why should the Republican majority allow them to do the redistricting, which will obviously result in something that favors the Democrats?

You see, it is the Democrats who are calling out for non-partisan redistricting of Monroe County’s legislative districts. They are in the minority there ( and really, not by much ). Despite their all out war two years ago to gain control of the county legislature, they are still in the minority there. Hence their pious demand for non-partisan redistricting. They wouldn’t have demanded it had they gotten control of the county legislature.

And before people start saying, “No! They would have still demanded non-partisan redistricting even if they would have won the county legislature!” they had better pay attention to another bit of redistricting. Something our Democratic politicians DON’T want to be made public.

The four district seats in Rochester’s City Council are also up for redistricting this year, based on population changes within those districts. The Democrats, in absolute control of Rochester’s government, are NOT calling for non-partisan groups to do THAT redistricting! They are not even offering an excuse as to why not.

Of course, it’s always different when it’s your group in control. And that’s exactly how this should be viewed. Not that the Democrats out of control in the County Legislature have higher, purer or more noble ideals. It’s politics, pure and simple.

At any rate, the County Legislature is offering a public hearing on the matter in their chambers on Tuesday night, April 12, at 7 PM. It should be interesting. But futile. The law permits the majority group in the County Legislature to draw the districts as they please, just like the law permits the Democratic monopoly in Rochester to do the same. The Democrats are indeed protesting too much. And for all of the wrong reasons.

But the Democrats keep yammering on about the Republicans!

And I conclude by paraphrasing the ending lines of a song from that wonderful musical “1776:” “Ladies and gentlemen, I give you a toast: County Republicans. City Democrats. Who stinketh the most?”

Let me go on the record as saying that I favor non-partisan redistricting of Monroe County’s legislative districts. I favor the idea of concise blocks of population that would eliminate some of the fantastic and nonsensical gerrymanders that have occurred over the years depending on whichever party was in power at the time.

The only question I have is how “non-partisan” these groups and participants would be? Especially since it is the Democrats in Monroe County that have made an issue of non-partisan redistricting.

That’s why it should be seen for what it is.

A standard card in any political deck is that the dominant group in any political or legislative assembly will call the shots and favor the status quo( just as Democratic controlled New York State favored the Status Cuomo in the last gubernatorial election, no matter how much they were “fed up with Albany” ). Another standard card is that the political party that is the minority wants to effect a change that they could NOT realize at the polls, in this case, Monroe County’s Democrats, and cry foul.

Some things never change.

As it is, the Republican dominated county legislature can simply speak to the fact that the county charter allows the dominant party to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to redistricting the county’s legislative seats.

The Democrats’ whining about unfairness should be seen for what it is.

The Democrats declared total war against the Republicans in 2009′s county legislative elections, with an eye towards the redistricting that would take place in 2011, and STILL didn’t get a majority in the legislature! Had they won, they would be demanding THEIR right to redistrict as they saw fit. They didn’t. Hence their wrath.

Sorry if I don’t take their denials at face value.

So now the Democrats are rushing about, telling to people to sign online petitions calling for the Republicans to permit non-partisan redistricting, which the Republicans certainly have no reason to take into account.

Let us not forget that the Democrats have an absolute monopoly on Rochester’s government. When city council “graciously” permitted the voters to express their opinions on a “special election” for mayor, they promptly ignored the majority’s opposition to a “special election” and secretly voted for it anyway. Rochester’s city charter allows the city council to do this.

Just as the county charter allows the dominant Republican Party to carry on with the redistricting as it sees fit.

Perhaps the Democrats don’t see the irony in this.

Nor did the county legislator for the 26th District see the irony in his own statements.

The Maplewood neighborhood is in a somewhat unique position, in that it has TWO county legislators living within a few blocks of each other: Cindy Kaleh and Steve Eckle.

Some months ago, Steve Eckle discussed the possibility of reducing the number of county legislators in order to save money, which is what other counties have done in New York State. Such an action would have caused redistricting to take place, anyway, and somewhat less than half of the legislators would no longer have a district to represent. The districts would then be larger, and Steve and Cindy’s districts ( the 26th and 28th, respectively ) would probably have been merged under such a plan, forcing them to slug it out in a Democratic primary.

Apparently, Steve didn’t think too clearly about that.

Then he ceased to appear at the Maplewood Neighborhood Association meetings for some months.

When he returned two months ago, he only came to rail about the Republicans’ redistricting, claiming that Maplewood would “lose” one or the other county legislator and have less influence in the county legislature as a result!

Steve called upon the MNA members to go online to protest this.

So, at first Steve wanted to reduce the county legislature’s size, then wants to have it retain both his and Cindy’s districts! And Cindy’s district is one of the peculiar gerrymanders that people out of power always rail against! And frankly, so is the 23rd!

How would a “non-partisan” body feel about this?

And frankly, Steve’s conundrum bespeaks of either being unable to make up his own mind, or having one’s cake and eating it, too.

It is always nice when representatives of a “representational democracy” have the support of “the people.” But our elected representatives only seem interested in garnering that support when the laws are against them ( as the county charter is in this case ).

And where will this “non-partisan” redistring committee come from, anyway? The League of Women Voters? An ecumenical group of clergymen? The Boy Scouts? Most of these groups have been involved in some way, shape or form in the body politic of Rochester and Monroe County, so how “non-partisan” would they actually be?

And I don’t see the Democrats in the city demanding non-partisan action in regards to the flaws in the city charter governing the mayoral succession!

Which, again, is why the Democrats’ claims should be seen for exactly what it is: stamping on sour grapes to make vinegar.

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Rich Gardner has been writing about the history, culture and waterways of Upstate New York for years. His articles have appeared in U.S. and Canadian publications, and one book, Learning to Walk. He is an alumnus of Brighton High School and SUNY Geneseo. He operates Upstate Resume & Writing Service in Brighton and recently moved to Corn Hill, where he is already involved in community projects. "I enjoy the 'Aha!' moments of learning new things, conceptual and literal. City living is a great teacher."

Ken Warner grew up in Brockport and first experienced Rochester as a messenger boy for a law firm in Midtown Tower. He recently moved downtown into a loft on the 13th floor of the Temple Building with a view of the Liberty Poll and works in the Powers Building overlooking Rochester’s four corners as Executive Director for UNICON, an organization devoted to bringing economic development to the community. He hopes to use his Rochester Blog to share his observations from these unique views of downtown.